A Record 64 Shoots Thomson Into Lead

Australian Peter Thomson shot a tournament record seven-under-par 64 for a 134 total to take a four-stroke lead after two rounds of the $202,000 MONY Greater Syracuse Seniors golf tournament Saturday at Lafayette, N.Y.

First-round leader Gene Littler and defending champion Miller Barber were tied for second at 138.

Littler had a 71, Barber a 70.

“I did it all with the putter,” said Thomson, the leading money-winner on this year’s Seniors Tour. “The greens were a comfortable speed. You can hit confidently and not worry that it’s going to go too far. That makes it easier to hole putts.”

Five golfers were tied at 141, including Jim Ferree, who fell seven shots behind the pace with a 73 after shooting a 68 Friday.

Thomson, whose first-round 70 put him three shots behind Littler, got his game together Saturday with eight birdies and one bogey. The Australian had five birdies on the final nine holes, including three in a row starting at No. 15.

Thomson’s 18-foot birdie putt at the 15th gave him the lead as Littler struggled over the back nine to make par. Littler had only one birdie in his round, a 15-footer on the first hole.

Littler missed birdie putts at the 12th and 13th holes by inches. He had 35 putts for the day and bogeyed the 14th hole.

Judy Clark shot a four-under-par 68 to take a four-shot lead after three rounds of a $225,000 Ladies Professional Golf Assn. tournament at Danvers, Mass.

Clark, who moved up from a fourth-place tie after two rounds, is at 209. Rosie Jones and Jane Geddes are tied for second at 213.

“I feel as good as I ever have,” Clark said. “I’m calm out there. I’ve got enough experience that I know not to press. I’ll just try to let the other guys make the mistakes.

“I’m in really good position. If the wind stays like it is, I don’t think there’ll be too many low scores (in the final round). I just have to go out and play a solid round.”

Clark, who finished second in last week’s U.S. Women’s Open, moved into the lead with seven birdies.

Clark, 35, is seeking her first tour victory.

Jones posted 69s on the first two rounds before slumping to a 75 Saturday. She went without a birdie, losing one shot on the ninth hole and two on the 15th.

Geddes shot a 73, averting serious trouble with three birdies on the back nine.

Marta Figueras-Dotti, who tied the course record with a 65 Friday, had two double-bogeys on the way to a 75 and a three-way tie at 214 with Susie Berning and Donna Caponi.

Jones, Geddes and Figueras-Dotti are also trying for their first tour victory.

Dan Forsman shot a bogey-free seven-under-par 63 to take a one-stroke lead in the third round of the $300,000 Quad Cities Open at Coal Valley, Ill.

Forsman missed tying the PGA record at the 6,514-yard Oakwood Country Club course by one stroke as he had a 200 total for 54 holes, 10 under par.

Bob Tway, the second-round leader, recorded three bogeys and shot a 70 to fall into a second-place tie at 201 with Leonard Thompson and Brett Upper. Thompson shot a 66 and Upper a 69.

Upper and two-time champion Scott Hoch started the third round tied for second place. Hoch, who won the tournament last year and in 1980, shot a 71 for a 203.

Jim Sorenson beat Jay Cooper, 12 and 11, in the 36-hole match-play final of the U.S Amateur Public Links championship at Kapaa, Hawaii..

Sorenson’s performance tied the record for the most one-sided defeat in the history of the Public Links championship and was the most one-sided match play final ever.

The old record was Arne Dokka’s 10-and-9 defeat of Leo Zamphredo in the 1965 Public Links championship at the North Park Golf Course in Pittsburgh.

Sorenson, 22, of Bloomington, Minn., won the first three holes and 8 of the first 11 holes in opening a large lead during Saturday’s morning round.

After the first 18 holes at the oceanside Wailua Golf Course, Sorenson was 11 up.